CFN – Who would not want to read a book with the title “2012 Rabbits and the Happy Apocalypse on Shortwave Radio”. It certainly intrigued me.
Author, Roy Berger, takes what could have been just another ‘end of the world’ theme and turns it into an interesting and socially relevant voyage for the main character, Stanley Brown, as he survives a catastrophic world climate and epidemic disaster. Stanley has a slightly irreverent view of the world, his life and now the situation he finds himself in. In some ways it reminded me of my favourite book as a young adult; “The Swiss Family Robinson”. Stanley is inventive, courageous and optimistic and with his two dogs sets out to explore the rest of his now much narrower world. No radio, no television, no telephone, no neighbours; only his dogs for company. Haven’t we all wondered what we would do in such a situation? He decides to set off on a trip to seek other humans – if there are any. He has many adventures and as the author says, it is “a demented hare raising tale”. As for the rabbits? Well anyone who has read “Watership Downs” will remember that those cute little bunny rabbits aren’t really all that cute…that’s a clue to what happens to Stanley.
It is far deeper than just a survival manual. The situations and problems he encounters speak to what we, as a society, are doing to our world. So many of the other end of the world scenarios don’t deal with decaying nuclear facilities; containers with chemicals that don’t last forever and eventually seep out into the waters and the land…with interesting results. While reading this book, I saw the whole human ‘civilization’ re-creating itself – even the negative aspects – with fascinating outcomes but in a condensed period of time. All this is told with Stanley’s (Roy Berger) slightly black sense of humour.
Yes, we have all heard of the year 2012 and the conflicting interpretations. Will it be the end of the world, or the end of the world as we know it or will we all become fully enlightened and rise above it all. Yes, it coincidentally is also the Year of the Rabbit but I guarantee you that when you wake up on January 1, 2013 you will still find this book an enjoyable read.
Roy describes himself as living in the legendary artist’s colony of Cornwall, Ontario where the palm trees bloom in the winter and a cool breeze blows in the summer. Obviously he has a fabulous imagination.
Three different ways to get to the book. Create Space brings you to the printed book. Amazon will allow you to buy the Kindle version and Smash Words allows the book for readers on Kobo, Sony, Nook, etc.
www.amazon.com/Rabbits-Happy-
ISBN #978-0-9877363-1-4
ebook ISBN #978-0-9877-363-0-7
Loved the book, but now I don’t trust rabbits.